Wyland Galleries closing at Disney's Polynesian Resort

ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
wdwmagic said:
An interesting development at the Poly

http://www.wdwmagic.com/resorts/dis...ies-closing-at-disney's-polynesian-resort.htm
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Sigh,

Just another example of the culure of abandonment one of the ONLY shops on WDW property which carried unique and beautiful items, I loved and collected a few of the Frogman sculptures. http://www.frogmancollection.com/ By the time current TWDC management is through with the Poly it will have the charm and ambiance of a Hampton Inn.
 
TubaGeek

TubaGeek

God bless the "Ignore" button.
Isn't there a generic gift shop IMMEDIATELY across from it? Or am I getting my floors confused?
If they are close, that might deter them from putting a third generic gift shop in, right? I'd like for them to keep it specialised.
 
JenniferS

JenniferS

Time To Be Movin’ Along
Premium Member
Nemo14 said:
I never bought anything in there, but I did like to browse. I wonder if the one at the Boardwalk will close too.
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From the link:

Wyland Galleries will be closing at Disney's Polynesian Resort on December 31 2013.
This is a significant development, as the addition of the new Polynesian Resort Disney vacation Club Villas are rumored to be bringing extensive changes to the Polynesian Resort, including updates to the Great Ceremonial House where the Wyland Galleries are located.

The Wyland Galleries location will continue to operate at Disney's BoardWalk Resort.
 
MarkTwain

MarkTwain

Well-Known Member
TubaGeek said:
Isn't there a generic gift shop IMMEDIATELY across from it? Or am I getting my floors confused?
If they are close, that might deter them from putting a third generic gift shop in, right? I'd like for them to keep it specialised.
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You're correct, they're very near each other. Hopefully that keeps the replacement for Wyland from becoming a generic shop.

Nemo14 said:
I never bought anything in there, but I did like to browse. I wonder if the one at the Boardwalk will close too.
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It says in the paragraph in the link that the Boardwalk location will be unaffected... which seems odd to me, as I feel Wyland's upscale and ocean/tropical-theming would have fit the Polynesian better.
 
C

CndleontheWater

Member
Are they closing it because no one ever bought anything there? I always viewed that place more as a "museum" than "gift shop". It was fun to walk around inside and look, but no way was I ever going to spend the equivalent of a second Disney vacation on a dolphin sculpture, which would go, where, exactly, in my house. Unless you live in Key West, very little inside the store is going to fit with most people's home decor. Maybe that was part of the problem.
 
ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
TubaGeek said:
Isn't there a generic gift shop IMMEDIATELY across from it? Or am I getting my floors confused?
If they are close, that might deter them from putting a third generic gift shop in, right? I'd like for them to keep it specialised.
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The Mallification continues.

My guess is they need the space for a pin shop. You know higher revenue per sq-ft/day just like a mall. Or perhaps a Ron-Jon or Pac-Sun shop - This is DISNEY we can't have anything nice.
 
ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
CndleontheWater said:
Are they closing it because no one ever bought anything there? I always viewed that place more as a "museum" than "gift shop". It was fun to walk around inside and look, but no way was I ever going to spend the equivalent of a second Disney vacation on a dolphin sculpture, which would go, where, exactly, in my house. Unless you live in Key West, very little inside the store is going to fit with most people's home decor. Maybe that was part of the problem.
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I have some frogs from there so at least SOME of us bought things there, Key issue I think was Merchandise did not appeal to 'Honey Boo Boo' demographic it did not have DISNEY printed on it and items started about $100 and went north rapidly.
 
C

CndleontheWater

Member
ford91exploder said:
I have some frogs from there so at least SOME of us bought things there, Key issue I think was Merchandise did not appeal to 'Honey Boo Boo' demographic it did not have DISNEY printed on it and items started about $100 and went north rapidly.
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I'm glad to hear that someone bought something there, it was such a neat store. I just find it sad that it can't be preserved, even though it wasn't a big money maker, just because it added some interesting ambiance to the Poly. I guess that is not the new Disney way, though.
 
asianway

asianway

Well-Known Member
Soarin' Over Pgh said:
I can't find words on this lovely Saturday morning to express how I feel about another piece of the Poly being taken away.

But this is about right....

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
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I much preferred the pre Wyland pre BouTiki set up myself where there were separate souvenir, men's, women's, & jewelry stores on the first floor. GCH shopping lost it's charm long before the closure of what amounts to a third party gift shop.
 
ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
fbb said:
I couldn't care less about the Wyland Galleries, but the water feature is iconic and I have slim hopes that even a superb remodel can match it.
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At least according to @tikiman who is close to 100% accurate on these things the water feature is HISTORY and will not be preserved/replaced as part of the Poly 'Renovations'
 
ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
dinodak said:
Des anyone think it will end up looking like a Hampton Inn when the reservations are complete? :)
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No it will look worse - See GFV DVC for current example butt ugly because TDO was too cheap to even add the few hundred thousand in exterior architectural details to match the rest of the GF.
 

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